


The Losing Game

by Chiharu



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2016-08-30
Packaged: 2018-08-12 01:07:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7914463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chiharu/pseuds/Chiharu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Remember when Oikawa wanted this really ugly, really expensive alien figure and none of them could deny him anything (even though they wanted to burn the damn thing)?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Losing Game

They meet at the rendezvous point thirty minutes after practice ends, Hanamaki and Matsukawa looking amused when Iwaizumi appears in clean clothes.

"Nice shirt," Hanamaki says around a mouthful of cream puff. Like Matsukawa, he's still clad in their practice shirts and track pants. 

"Shut up," Iwaizumi mumbles as they make their way into the Taito Station Arcade. "I had to walk home with Oikawa and fake a stomachache so he wouldn't make me come over. I ran here as fast as I could."

Matsukawa nods sympathetically. "Ah, the perils of hiding something from your boyfriend."

Iwaizumi really has no response to that, so he pulls out a coin purse and scans the arcade. The UFO catcher housing the ugly alien of Oikawa's dreams is at the corner, tucked between a taiko drumming game and a machine that dispenses Love Live pillowcases. The girls currently competing on the drums give them strange looks when all three of them crowd around the UFO catcher. 

"What's our game plan?" Hanamaki asks.

The answer is simple. They have to get the boxed alien figure through the five inch gap on the platform so it can fall out of the dispenser. Still, Iwaizumi spends a good minute squinting at the glass. "Who wants to go first?"

"Oh no, keep us out of this," Matsukawa drawls. "We're just here to witness your suffering."

"And potentially document it when you lose 10000 yen to a machine," Hanamaki adds supportively.

"That's not going to happen," Iwaizumi says, knowing fully well that it will probably happen. 

The first 500 yen is a test run, so Iwaizumi is not surprised to see it go to waste. The problem, they discover, is that the claw is too weak to actually pick up the boxed figure, much less move it around the platform. Any attempt to do so otherwise is met with failure when the box barely moves. 

"A formidable opponent," Hanamaki concludes.

Thankfully, the girls take pity on them. "You need to use the side of the claw to knock the box around," the taller girl explains.

Iwaizumi looks at her. He bets her boyfriend has never had to endure this torture to win an ugly alien out of a box. "Have you done it before?" He asks, hoping that he could pay her into playing for him.

"No," she laughs and picks up her bag as her friend gestures for them to leave. "I've only seen someone else do it. Good luck."

Luck is something Iwaizumi doesn't have as he continues to drop 2000 yen. The most they manage to do is move the box in the opposite direction, and Iwaizumi kicks the machine so hard that he gets a concerned look from the otaku trying to win a Sonoda Umi pillow. While Matsukawa wanders off to find an employee to reset the machine, Iwaizumi scowls.

Hanamaki throws an arm around Iwaizumi. "Maybe you can buy one off yahoo auctions."

That's an option Iwaizumi has already explored, only to learn that the asking price for one of these things is more than his budget allows. Hanamaki seems to understand, and he offers Iwaizumi a consolatory look while the arcade employee comes to unlock the glass. They watch with rapt attention as the employee demonstrates a few ways to knock the box over, but Iwaizumi still can't mimic it when the man leaves.

"Let me try," Matsukawa says at last, and Iwaizumi almost feels a sliver of hope until Matsukawa wastes 300 yen learning how to move the control stick. 

By the time Hanamaki gains control of the machine and starts jamming the buttons violently, Iwaizumi knows there is no hope left. 

"You can always give yourself to him for his birthday," Matsukawa says with a pat on Iwaizumi's back.

Hanamaki nods from where he is wrangling the stick. "Regifting. Very economical."

"Save on the wrapping paper. Just go naked."

"Stop making shit up about our sex life," Iwaizumi hisses.

This just makes Hanamaki grin more. "Ah, so you admit that you do have a sex life."

"I-no."

"Do the two of you do kinky stuff? Do you role play aliens?"

"Wha-"

"Does Oikawa have a life-sized model of this alien figure that you play with or-"

"Yes, and you're welcome to join us," A familiar voice chimes in just as Iwaizumi opens his mouth. All three of them spin around to find Oikawa standing near the entrance, looking smug. When Hanamaki makes a disgusted face at the prospect of joining him and Iwaizumi in said roleplaying, Oikawa steps forward until he's touching the glass. "The trick is to rotate the box 45 degrees, then pull it down with the claw."

Iwaizumi frowns at the elegant slope of his boyfriend's neck. "How do you know that?"

The smile he gets from Oikawa is saccharine sweet. "Because I just won this figure last week."

This sends Iwaizumi, Hanamaki, and Matsukawa into various degrees of despair. Eventually, when Hanamaki has stopped laughing and Iwaizumi no longer wants to put his own head through the UFO window, Matsukawa asks, "Why didn't you say so early?"

"Because you all told me to stop talking about it." Oikawa has the nerve to look disappointed. "So I didn't tell you about how I got lucky with this machine last weekend."

After a beat, Hanamaki sets a hand on Iwaizumi's shoulder gravely. "Miscommunication is a serious issue in budding relationships. I hope you addressing this concern soon."

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Matsukawa wants to know.

Oikawa flash them a peace sign. "I wanted to win a pillow of my best girl, Honoka. Just kidding! I went over to Iwa-chan’s house with some stomach medicine, but I saw him sneak out of the backyard and followed him here."

"So you've been watching all along?" Matsukawa raises an eyebrow.

"Well. I was at another machine, winning all of us prizes." Oikawa lifts his arm to show a half a dozen stuffed plushes of Japan's volleyball mascot. 

Later, when they're actually walking home with an armful of prizes, Iwaizumi sighs. "That was going to be your birthday present."

Oikawa just laughs. "Don't worry, Iwa-chan. You can always give yourself to me instead."

“But I’m already yours,” Iwaizumi says, which just makes Oikawa smile more.


End file.
